Bill Kostroun/Associated PressThe Nets' Devin Harris has shown he can take a licking like the one the Clippers' Baron Davis laid on him last month.

His game is all about sustained high speed, but there is something extraordinary about Devin Harris' game, and it has to do with front-end collisions.

One of the hardest things to do in the NBA -- at least for those who weigh 182 or 183 pounds -- is to take a body check from a 250-pound defender and still finish the play, but it is something that the Nets point guard has excelled at this season.

Harris claims it's all about practice and weight training. But he also says he weighs around 190 pounds, which no one believes. Either way, he has a knack for driving the lane, seeking out contact from a bigger player and still hitting a shot while drawing the whistle.

It's something that only the great ones -- smurfs such as Allen Iverson, or other elite points such as Tony Parker -- do with regularity.

And even when he doesn't finish, he invariably gets a free pass to the foul line, where he averages more attempts (11.4) than anyone else in the league besides Dwight Howard.

"He's gotten stronger -- you can see it," said Nets president Rod Thorn. "And he's got more confidence now in that ability. It was a learning process to take the hit and finish like he does. Like last year: He was really taking some tough hits -- and falling.

"Now he kind of braces himself. He still gets knocked down, but it's not as precarious as it was before. But he does what the good drivers do: He knows that if you veer away from it, bigger guys are going to block it. So he just absorbs the contact, and he's great at finishing or getting the whistle."

And it is extraordinary that he can do it at his weight.

Harris took a very professional approach to his summer weight training, working with Nets conditioning coach Rich Dalatri in New Jersey and renowned trainer Tim Grover in Chicago. When he returned for camp, he claims he was 195 pounds, the largest he's been in his life.

"I just felt a lot stronger coming in," Harris said. "You remember before, when I went to draw contact, I usually ended up on the floor. Now I don't do that as much. And that's because of the extra strength and extra pounds."

Extra pounds?

Or ounces?

"He looks pretty much the same to me this year," Vince Carter said. "I don't think he's changed his body so much as he's sharpened his style of play, which involves taking the hit."

"You don't look at him and say he's gotten any bigger," Keyon Dooling agreed. "I think he's always been one of the faster guys with the ball, but maybe all these (layups and drawn fouls) is just a matter of getting more cracks at it now."

"I think he said he gained 6 or 7 (pounds)," coach Lawrence Frank said. "But that was always part of his game, putting his body in position to get hit. It's a big emphasis of what we do in preseason, and he has an uncanny ability. And he's never afraid, which is the big thing."

Actually, Harris' lack of fear now defines him. Only once during his astonishing run toward the Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors did he look hesitant to drive the lane, and that was when Shaquille O'Neal was patrolling the paint in Phoenix.

According to research by one website (basketballprospectus.com), the 6-3 Harris is even making history in his search-and-destroy approach to offense. Only two men in NBA history shorter than 6-4 have averaged more free throws per game over a season than Harris. One is Jerry West, who was listed as 6-2 and averaged 12.4 and 12.3 in two separate years. The other is the 6-0 Iverson, whose best average was 11.5 freebies per game in 2005-06.

The only question is: Will Harris' body hold up from the persistent pounding?

"I'm playing more minutes, but the regimen I went through this summer kind of helped me -- the extra weight really helps," Harris said. "My body doesn't feel as beat up. When I'm delivering those blows, I don't feel it as much as last year. I'm delivering those blows and I'm standing up and taking it."

"Can he maintain 11 per game?" Frank asked. "That will just take a great deal of effort, in terms of his attack. But he's showing no signs of letting up."